Darkness Falls
by Portugese-Hero
Summary: Ash Kechum is a regular Highschool orphan with no plans for the future, living in downtown pallet. But soon his quiet life is torn apart as he is forced to participate in a dangerous tournament to find out the secrets of his past and the source of his strange new powers. Armed with a yellow rat and an unending supply of sarcasm, can Ash become the very best? Harem R&R! REVISED!


**Important new A/N at the bottom**

**Hey there guys, it's been far to long. So, this fic will be a long one, so fell free to criticize, not flame, my work so that I may improve my skills as a writer. I'll take suggestions for plot points later on, but I have a good idea of where this story is headed for the foreseeable chapters. Hope you'll like reading this as much as I love writing it. By the way, when I mean criticize, I'm talking grammar and spelling corrections, everything and anything I can change or take out to give you a better reading experience. From sentence structure to plot points, I'm writing this for you so don't be afraid to ask for a change. Seriously. One word corrections to make it sound and flow better, anything that you look at in this fic and say "eh". Any part that you think is boring or you skim or skip over because it sounds weird or awkward, I want to know. I'm thinking about starting another story while still in the middle of this one, and I want to know your feedback to make me a better writer for you and for me, and to make this story live up to the potential I think it can reach. Thank you all for the support and the feedback, can't wait to hear back from you. **

_**Chapter 1: A Day in the Life**_

_ I smile down at her, heart racing. Her dark brown eyes stared up at mine. She looked down at my mouth, biting her lower lip, and pressed herself closer against me. When it came to a point where I couldn't take her teasing anymore, I leaned in, eyes closed and lips slightly parted, waiting to feel her lips on mine. After a few seconds of nothing, I opened my eyes, and she was gone. In her place was a never ending blackness. No, not black. Red. It's blood, whose I didn't know. And I have a growing fear I don't want to find out. No, it's not blood, it's fire. It burns, we all burns down in a sea of flame THE'RE COM- _

I shot up in my bed in a cold sweet, panting hard. I looked down at my body. Not on fire. That was good. I sighed as the suns rays slowly rose over the rooftops. Well, my rooftop anyway. I turned out of bed, and shivered when my feet touched the cool concrete of the roof. At one point I thought about buying a carpet for my "bedroom", then I remembered that I could barely afford to live on the _roof_ of an apartment building. I smiled as I made my way to the edge of the building and looked as the sun peaked its head over the Pallet City skyline. As I leaned against the concrete barrier and admired my view from the 6 story building, I couldn't help but think how living on a roof wasn't so bad. Still smiling, I lifted up my hand that was resting on the edge of the wall, and quickly remembered that the Pidgy population of Pallet was one of the reasons people lived _inside._ I cursed to myself as I wiped off the droppings from my hand with a cloth by my bed. Well, of you could call a stained mattress on the floor a real bed.

"_Then again",_ I thought to myself with a chuckle, looking around, "_this isn't really a house, is it?"_. In fact, it really wasn't much of a roof either. The whole roof was mine (not counting the Pidgys), and was lined with wire fences that act as walls, separating the different rooms. There was my bedroom on the far right corner, next to it along the wall was a living room with a old a futon I'd found on the side of the road, facing to an old T.V. that only played one channel. In the center was the kitchen, all decked out with the latest of mini fridge technology, a fire pit and a frying pan. There were two more rooms, one was a type of training room, with dummies and punching bags littered around the area that took up most of the left side wall. in the corner there was a doorway that opened up into the stairwell entrance. It lead outside down to the fire escape on the back side of the building facing away from the street, leading into the parking lot. This only left a little space for my roommate.

It was then I was tacked from behind by a yellow blur. _"Speaking of the little Devil," _I smiled as I landed back on the bed face first. I flip myself to face my "assailant" to be face to face with two deep black eyes. the creature looked down at me and cocked its head sideways, with what looked like a smile

"Pika!" I couldn't help another smile as I rubbed behind Pikachu's ears, earning myself a satisfied 'chaaaa' from my partner. Pikachus were a quadrupeds rodent species that were mostly yellow all around, other than the red electric sacs on its cheeks that stored electricity. The species was also known for having a lightning bolt shaped tail on their back, a good indicator of a Pikachu's natural element of electricity. A fact that I have become all to aware of during our training sessions. I shuttered slightly at the thought. Some of those scars still haven't healed properly.

"Pi?" I was brought out of my daydreaming to see Pikachu again sitting on my chest, with a food bowl in its mouth. I sweat dropped, and decided it was probably best that I eat to, and get ready to go. School has always seemed unnecessary, not that I really needed one. As much as my teachers told me otherwise, I knew that I wasn't cut out for the real world. I was a strait B student, had no money, no girlfriend, no prospects for the future. I was a slightly below average high school student, nothing extraordinary to speak of. I'd end up in a crappy dead end job, living in some other god forsaken town, and I long since gave up my dreams on a college degree. I slipped on a blue hoodie over my nightshirt, not that I had anything else to wear, and walked over to the mini fridge to feed myself and Pikachu. _No, _I thought empty minded as I took a milk carton and took a sip. _I could never leave this town. Not after- _

"ASH!" A loud voice jolted me out of my daydream, shocking me senseless. No really, my milk fell out of my hand and on to Pikachu, who promptly thunderbolted me until I couldn't feel anything anymore. I don't mind, it's happened to me more then I care to remember. I was much more afraid of the owner of the voice would do If I didn't get my ass moving. I walked over to the side of the roof facing away from the street, and peered down into the parking lot of the building. There, standing with a seemingly ever- pissed off expression, was Misty Waterflower, one of the only people I could in good faith call my friend.

"Morning, Mist!" I yelled down with my best fake flamboyantly cheery smile. At this point in our story I would love to describe Misty as both a person and my childhood friend as she has been both as long as I can remember, but at that point I had to duck underneath a perfectly thrown glass bottle that flew over my head, crashing on the ground behind me, scaring Pikachu half to death.

"I told you not to call me that!" I just lean back over the edge and smile down at her again. Misty could beat be described as a tomboy, wearing cargo pants and a t-shirt that left...actually quite a bit of her body to the imagination. Looks didn't really matter to her (though she did forgo the overall-lemon shirt combo from when they were kids), and I respected her a hell of a lot for it. Class president, captain of the swim team, stellar grades, she was everything I wasn't. Namely liked, and repected.

I'm snapped out of my daydream as I see her rearing up another bottle from below

"Woa, easy there Mist. Want some milk?" I yelled, holding up the half empty carton over my head.

A few dozen smashed bottles later, I'm sure the neighbors had more than enough of a wakeup call. The assault soon stops though, so I guess she finally calmed down over the whole 'Mist' thing. I think. I don't know what's more impressive, her anger issues or the tenants inessential drinking problem. How many bottles did she have there anyways?

"Come on Ash! We're going to be late! Again! Get your ass down here NOW!"

I didn't need to be told twice, as I reached over and downed the last of the milk as I bolted to the door, grabbing my bag as I ran by. I sprinted down the first five flights of the fire escape and vaulted the last, landing in front of the pissed off redhead with a thud. She glares at me at first, with her arms crossed.

"You really have to start taking better care of yourself Ash. I mean, how are you ever going to graduate if you never show up!"

As her glare holds, I let mock shock take over my face.

"Graduate? Me? My dear Misty you think too highly of me." When she doesn't let up, I drop my fake smile. My face adopts a more serious expression, and I return her glare with a half-glare of my own. "We both know I'm going nowhere living in this rattata-hole of a town, so just drop it."

We stand there in the parking lot in silence for a good minute, not saying anything but holding our gazes glare holds a little longer, until she eventually sighs and drops her arms. She looks at me with a look of remorse and...pity? It's a look I've never seen on her before and I stagger a bit, dropping my own glare as well

"Ash... Can you promise me you'll never just lie down and die? Please? There are some people who still believe in you."

My surprised look turns into a scoff. I put my head down and my head in my pockets as I walk past her to the street that would take us to the school.

"Oh yea, I can count them on my fingers now. You, May, Brock... No, I thinks that's about it." I turn to her, walking backwards now with my arms spread wide. "So yea Misty, I have a bitchy class president, a super diva and a blue balled pervert backing me up. Oh, dear Arceus how can I fail now!" I think I could feel the sarcasm dripping from my voice as I turn and continue to walk down the road. Thankfully I actually live kinda close to the school itself, a big stone eyesore on the horizon. I shoot a glance over my shoulder, but just to see if she's following me. I always hated when she looked like that. All broken, like she had failed me or something. It's not her fault, and I hate having to put down all the talk of me having a future to her. It's just not practical. And I was over exaggerating when I bashed our friends earlier; they're not half bad people.

You know, for assholes.

I Hang my head in shame at my own words. Arceus, Why can't I help being an ass all the time, even to my friends?

"Hey Ashhhhhhh!" Speak of the devil. I barely have time to lift my head before I'm glommed onto the ground. The pavement of a sidewalk is not the best thing to be glommed on, I think to myself as I open my eyes with a bit off a struggle. I look up and see two big brown eyes staring down at me. I smirk and close my eyes, more in pain than anything else.

"Hey May. Mind getting off of me? I'd like to breath if it's not to much trouble...!" My voice was getting more and more strained as I talked.

The brown haired girl who was now currently straddling my chest, effectively cutting off my off my oxygen supply on a public sidewalk, smiled down at me sheepishly as she got up and extended her hand for me. I took it graciously, pulling myself up. I dusted off my pants (not that they could really get any more dirty) and look up at my 'assailant'. May Maple was still there, sheepishness gone and a bright beaming smile on her face. She wore a white skirt with a red tube top that showed some of her midriff, but had a light red jacket on that covered up a lot of her skin, with a pokéball symbol on the back. I eventually smile back at her, just not quite as beaming as hers. May was a curious creature, to say the least. Now, despite the scene that just played out, she was by no means a slut, or a tramp, or sexually active what so ever for that matter, despite what other people may say. And especially not with me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still a guy. And it's not like her Impressive...uh...qualities, didn't...um...

Ok, the girl was stacked and she knew it. At 16, she has the body most super models would kill for, that the student population thoroughly enjoyed. But, their constant gawking at her and jealous glares at me for being near her didn't affect her mood in the slightest. She was just more open about herself and her body than most, and didn't care what other people thought about her choice of clothing. And I wasn't the sort of guy to pursue anything more than our friendship right now, and I'm sure she felt the same way. Oh, and one more thing. she talked. A lot. Which is how they actually became friends in the first place.

I smiled as I remembered they day I first met the busty brunette Unlike Misty, who I had known since we were kids. It was at school that I first met May Maple.

_(flashback)_

It was two years ago, and it was a day where Misty and Brock were nowhere to be found in the lunchroom. My two closest people that I considered 'friends' were nowhere in sight, and I was getting tired of standing in the middle of the lunchroom making an ass of myself, so I saw an empty table and sat down. I'm about to take a bit of my pb&j when I hear a muffled cough from next to me. I turn my head to see that the table was actually not empty, but had a lone resident.

"Hi! My name is May, what's yours?" The overly excited girl now identified as May asked over the usual roar of the lunchroom. I just stare at her. I hadn't really been as great of a people person as I was today back then, so when a stranger started being...nice to me, I was at a loss. Mainly people then just scoffed at me and tried to avoid eye contact. Now that I think about it, they still do that now. Anyways, back to May, who took my silence as shyness and not the confusion it actually was, and took that as a sign to keep talking.

"Well, it's ok if you don't want to talk, I just wanted to say hi. See, I'm a new transfer from the Hoenn region, and I wanted to know if we could be friends!" She never lost her smile as she cracked her head to the side and closed her eyes. When I still didn't say anything, she open ended her eyes to see me gawking at her, open confusion and surprise evident on my face. She pouted and mock glared at me.

"Look, were both here sitting by ourselves, and obviously we both need someone to at least talk to, so do you mind telling me your name at least?" Another pause before I sigh and look away.

"...Ash" I mutter, and offer my hand without looking at her. I turn to see her beaming again as she takes it and gives it a firm shake.

"It's nice to meet you Ash. Hm, that's a funny name. how did you get it? i mean, I know your parents gave it too you, but how did THEY get it? I mean you look like more of a Steve than a Ash, don't you think? Well not really a..." She trailed off at that point, asking me questions and never giving me room to answer them. After a few attempts I gave up at getting a sentence in, so I elected to just sit there and nod my head and smile. So, I just sat there, lunch forgotten, simply amazed at how scatter brained one person could be. In fact, it went like that for a good Half hour. I just sat there and listened, a fact that I think pleased her a lot. I guess she was used to being ignored, so someone who would listen to her ramblings must have made her ecstatic. It wasn't hard to see why she didn't have more friends, she droned on more than a Chattot. But I wasn't most people. Having someone actually _talking _to me was a feat in itself, so I didn't mind if she talked me half to death.

Soon Misty and Brock found us, at first being completely stunned that there Ash had actually made a _friend_, a comment made by Brock that earned him a glare from me, but then they shook it off and introduced themselves. Soon we were all talking, and we all became fast friends after that.

_(End Flashback)_

Back In the present, I'm snapped out of my daydream as I realize May is talking, and I should probably listen

"...-hink it's a great idea! What do you think Ash?" She beamed at me. I just nod my head yes, earning me another ecstatic hug from her. I look up and see that we're already at the school, the crowded quad area bustling with preteens and high schoolers. Before I could whisper to Misty and ask her what I had just agreed to with May, a deep voice cut in

"Hey there guys, late again I see!" I smirk and look up to see Brock walking toward us from across the schools quad area out front. He's wearing a brown T- shirt and kaki cargo pants, with his black hair spiked up. As for his eyes...I don't think anyone has really seen them. I mean the guy is squinting 24/7, how does he even see? Shaking off the thought, I look back at him.

"Hey there yourself! What, no bruises today? Officer Jenny go easy on you this time? Oh, or did Joy already fix you up?" I taunt him. Don't get me wrong, Brock is a great guy. He's the sort of guy you can debate the finer points of macroeconomics in use in the new digital age, and then move to what girls looked the loosest in a room in the same sentence.

I actually met him a two years ago when I was jumped in an ally on my way back home. Brock heroicly showed up and uh...

Ok, admittedly all he did he just called the cops when he saw me being assaulted, but it was more than most people would have done.

And hey, it's not like I was helpless even back then, so as the would be mugger laid twitching on the floor, my knuckles slightly tinted red with his blood, we had some time to get to aquatinted before the authorities arrived. I learned that he was actually not a bad guy, his life goal of becoming a Pokémon breeder. Pokémon are a passion of mine, sort of, as there some of the only things that don't try to actively avoid me, so we kinda had some common ground there. I had seen him in school, him being a sophomore and me being a freshman, but that was the first time I'd talked to him. we were getting alone well, at least untill the local Officer Jenny arrived, and Brock lost it. The stoic squinted eyed kid I had met before was gone, and in its place stood a lovesick puppy, which soon became a lovesick wounded duck as he was shot down hard by the blue haired female cop.

So yea, overall a nice guy, but a compleat and utter perverted bastard when he wanted to be. Not that he would try that on Misty or May. May obviously wasn't interested, and Misty...let's just say the first time they met and Brock tried his whole love confession shtick, he was in the hospital for a week. He still has the limp in his walk. I shudder at the memory and look around, to see everyone gone.

"Ash! Come on let's go already!" Misty shouts from inside the almost stereotypical looking school building. I look up to realize I'm the last one left in the schools' quad. I must of been daydreaming longer than I thought. I look to the voice and smile as I start walking up to the main entrance.

"Coming Mist!" I shouted. I duck as another bottle comes flying from inside the doorway, and chuckle. Just another day in the life of Ash Kechum.

Now if only I knew it was about to change forever.

_(Elsewhere) _

A shadowy figure stood one of the many hills overlooking the quiet city of Pallet, looking at the sunset as the town slowly went quiet. It made what looked like a sinister looking smile through the darkness as it stared at a the town that housed its pray. "Soon" it whispered in a feminine, yet demonic tone. "Soon you will be ours for the taking, my dear Ash." The figure's eyes shown in a demonic gold light as the sun began to rise the horizon. Soon the figure backed up into the fast shadows being quickly overtaken my the new day sun, disappearing into their inky blackness.

**So, that's the first installment of many. The characters introduced, and the stage is set for mayhem and generally all hell braking loose in the next few chapters. I'm not going to be jumping into the plot right away, and if your looking for a quick lemon fix that's going to take a while, if I decide to at all. So, remember, no flames, just reviews, and I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did FINALLY writing it. Till next time!**

**And the next chapter will be up soon! I just wanted to make sure that this chapter was up to par before I started the next one. Thanks to all who helped me on this one, including 'Page Break', and thanks to everyone for the reviews so far!**


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